heredity/genetics lesson

how are you/would you cover this standard?compare the traits of parents to their offspring?
I also have to cover reproduction with my 5th graders which seems like a pretty daunting task right now. Any suggestions?

My high school bio teacher came in dressed as a monk (Mendel)- she wore a graduation gown tied with a rope belt and sandals. She used the overhead to show the genetics work on peas done by Mendel....Today you could use PowerPoint or SmartBoard technology to make a great interactive presentation on this. Here's a few sites to get you started:http://www2.edc.org/weblabs/Mendel/Mendelmenu.html

What parts of reproduction are you covering? I did this on a high school level so we were pretty blunt with what goes on, but I know this will be different for 5th graders. Our guidance counselor is actually teaching them health which makes me happy since I'd probably freak out even having to teach kids about stuff like that.

I usually start this unit with an introduction to animal/plant cells (chromosomes, genes, DNA, etc) and how you receive half of your chromosomes from mom, half from dad. Then we review dominant and recessive traits. Then I make a chart listing many inherited traits and many acquired traits and have the students interview each other about the traits. I will also show them a picture of an animal and have them find five inherited traits and name two acquired traits of the animal. We build cell models and do Punnet squares as well. We talk about the "special cells" that mom and dad have that only have 23 chromosomes, but we don't talk about how those cells get together...I use a book called "What makes You, You."

I also teach a puberty lesson, but only to my girls. A male PE teacher takes the boys to a separate room for their lesson. I start off by having each girl write a question on a piece of paper and put it in a basket - have them write something even if they don't have a question - that way no one can guess who asked the question. Then I review the changes happening to their bodies and go over the questions. The girls are usually quite curious. Luckily for me, we don't discuss sex this year, just puberty. Good luck!